Notes on Buying a New Uniform

Aside from the rifle, a new uniform is the most costly purchase for a reenactor. Over the last 20 years of reenacting, I’ve purchased multiple uniforms, both complete and in part, and every time I have learned something new. Some purchase I’ve regretted, and the aim is to help prevent the reader from making the same mistakes. If you’re committed to representing history as well as possible, then take a look at the following steps and see if they make sense for you.

1. Decide on the impression you want. Many units in the battalion represent units in the Army of Northern Virginia, but most of the events we do are Army of Tennessee events. Because the two armies differed greatly in uniforms, a choice needs to be made. Many units in the battalion are now trending towards Army of Tennessee (Western Confederate)-styled uniforms, so this is what I am going to cover in this article.

2. What kind of jacket? For Mid-war in the western theater, a very common jacket was the Columbus Depot jacket. It was made of gray jean-cloth with blue (not French or federal blue) trim in flat lines (no triangular trim) on the cuff and collar. Buttons could have been "I" buttons or wooden buttons. Other jackets include the Mobile Depot, Milledgeville, or Atlanta Depot. Stay away from the generic “gray wool” uniforms that are made from a wool/synthetic blend. They stand out like a sore thumb. During the Civil War, all uniform buttonholes were handsewn, and many jackets had some measure of hand-done top-stitching around them. This makes more of a difference then you would imagine.

3. As for trousers, most military issue trousers were made of jean wools, and they can be of the same fabric as the jacket, or they can be different, either is appropriate. For the closure in the back, most documented AOT trousers used a strap w\ two buttons, as opposed to the ones which have a string between two buttonholes (Federal style) or a buckle on a flap, (more northern Confederate). Also, most Confederate pants had "mule ear" pockets, which were small flaps on the front of the pants. Federal pants by contrast had side seam pockets. Also Federal pants would have been limited to the ANV most of the time. They were very rare in the AOT and even in the ANV they should be used less then they are now because pants wore through so quickly and because depot re-issues were more common by far then opportunities to scavenge.

Why should we look for a better uniform? Simply, it will help our impression more than any one thing we can do. In addition, the higher quality uniforms last longer. The quality made uniforms that I have acquired over the years last much longer then the crummy ones I acquired before. If you are looking to purchase a new uniform, have it custom made. Most of these vendors at small events use Pakistani elves to mass manufacture cheap uniforms. If you have access to a PC, do some research online. New vendors come and go with some regularity, and the talent pool necessary to do better uniforms is growing. There are even some quality makers here in the GVB, so look around, and talk to people with better uniforms and ask them where they got them. Use loaner gear while you save for a good uniform and you will save money in the long run